Avril Lavigne is an artist whose impact on the pop-punk scene is still deeply felt today. The Canadian singer emerged as a prominent voice in the early 2000s (especially among youth and young women), carving out a place for herself in a genre that was, at the time, heavily dominated by male artists. She backed it up with her rebellious persona and sharp, edgy lyricism driven by angst and defiance. Over the past few decades, the music industry has undergone a shift in its landscape, with the singer’s sound also going along with the constant change. Luckily, though, we still hear some of Lavigne’s beloved hits infiltrating the new era through younger female artists who took notes on how to do pop-punk right.
Back in the day, some doubted the singer’s authenticity, questioning whether the genre she plunged herself into was true to her. Some critics argued that her debut album, Let Go, wasn’t as bold as it aimed to be. It wasn’t, for some of them, angsty enough to warrant its pop-punk and alternative rock label. But that didn’t let Lavigne stop her. She went on to produce one hit after another, from infectious hits like “Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi” to more mature sounds like “My Happy Ending” and “Don’t Tell Me.”
However, like any other artist, the 17-year-old singer who debuted in 2002 grew up too. Although she has tried to revisit her roots with some of her recent releases, none have quite matched the impact and magic (and the angst of it all) of her early work. And that impact is big enough to make her, to this day, still widely considered the “Pop Punk Princess” and a source of inspiration for the newer artists we know and love today.
Avril Lavigne’s Legacy Lives On in Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo
Of course, Lavigne didn’t just develop her penchant for an alternative-leaning sound overnight. She has cited several artists who inspired her music, one of whom is Alanis Morissette. During a conversation with AltPress, the singer stated that Morissette served as her “early influence,” adding, “What I thought was really cool about her is that she didn’t hold back, lyrically. She was just angry, and had so much angst, and she just f-cking put it right out there.” Lavigne is, indeed, to new female artists what the “Ironic” singer was to her growing up. This includes Billie Eilish, who, in an Instagram post, told Lavigne: “Thank you for making me what I am.” The “Birds of a Feather” hitmaker also expressed her love for Lavigne back in 2019 during an interview with Pitchfork’s Over/Under, saying, “Avril Lavigne was everything to me, dude. I love Avril Lavigne. I only love her. There’s nothing else there. Just love, only love. There’s like almost no artists like that.”
These songs are totally “good 4 u.”
Olivia Rodrigo is arguably a rising pop-punk act, who — similar to Lavigne — has also faced questions about her authenticity in the genre. Understandably, the 22-year-old singer-songwriter also has some power ballads and pop-heavy tracks in her repertoire, which may confuse some listeners. Despite the criticisms, the Disney alum continued to release modern pop-punk anthems like “Obsessed,” “Get Him Back,” “Good 4 U,” “Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl,” and “Brutal,” which are reminiscent of Lavigne’s early releases. Rodrigo has always been open about her influences. And when Lavigne handed Rodrigo’s Songwriter of the Year award at Variety‘s Hitmakers Brunch, Rodrigo didn’t hesitate to praise her fellow female rocker. She said: “I want to thank Avril for coming here today. I am such a massive fan of you — I look up to you so much. So, this is so surreal for me. Thank you for the love and support.”
Avril Lavigne Continues to Influence Female Artists
As young songwriters who express their truth through music, following a trajectory that closely resembles Lavigne’s, Rodrigo and Eilish — two of the biggest artists of this era of music — are living proof that her legacy extends well beyond the early 2000s. The genre-bending singer Rina Sawayama, whose hit songs include “XS” and “Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys),” also credited Lavigne as her biggest inspiration.
“It actually all started with Avril Lavigne. I was 12 when I saw her on TV and begged my dad for a guitar,” Sawayama said in an interview (via Far Out Magazine). “He caved, and I taught myself chords and began writing that way. It was then that I actually started looking for music myself, and all my pocket money went into buying CDs.”
Pale Waves’ lead vocalist Heather Baron-Gracie has openly cited Lavigne as her “massive inspiration” and a “childhood hero” in an interview with Alternative Press. In fact, the rock band’s second album, Who Am I?, draws inspiration from Lavigne’s first two albums. Some of the artists also inspired by Lavigne include Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail, and more. Lavigne’s impact on music and the timelessness of her songs remain as profound as ever, even more than 20 years after her debut. She continues to serve not only as an inspiration but also as one of the trailblazers for female musicians in the pop-punk scene. She is, by all means, a legend in the industry. The proof is everywhere — can we make it any more obvious?
